Just in time for Wildflower! Richardson’s Arts and Music Festival is the City Parks and Recreation Department’s first ever app for the festival designed pro bono by four students from The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas). The free app (iOS and Android) will be available on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com) and Google Play (https://play.google.com/) on Thursday, May 16, 2013, the day before the festival begins. Just go to either download site and search for “Richardson Wildflower Festival.”

The launch of the app will give Wildflower! guests access to full schedules with links to the artists’ pages, list of all the great food available, as well as access to an interactive festival map and other information.

Justin Ehlert, a freshman from Midlothian, TX, was team leader of the app – the sixth he has designed – and joining him were two other freshmen, Alex Gwyn from Rockwall, TX, and Nelson LeDuc from Frisco, TX. This was also the first app for graduate student Naveen Tammineni of Tadpatri, India.

The four responded to an e-mail UT Dallas sent out about developing an app. “We all saw the opportunity and decided to apply,” said Justin. “It’s a good way to build our resumes and help out the City of Richardson. Our hopes are that we can build connections that will help us in the future.”

The idea of potentially thousands of people using the app “feels incredible,” he added. “We aren’t really expecting tens of thousands, but seeing a thousand people interact with our creation will feel very rewarding.”

“Another design element we really love is the sliding banner on the home page,” Justin explained. “The banner shows images of the headline acts and lets users know when they’ll be performing.”

Another version of the Wildflower! mobile application is also available for people using Android operating systems, and that program will also be undergoing renovations as well as the City and student programmers see how fans use the features.

Justin noted, “We are definitely going to work with the City of Richardson to update the app for future Wildflower! Festivals. It’s very important to us to keep a relationship with the City to ensure our work always stays polished. The City also has more app development opportunities that we’re interested in pursuing.”

“We have heard from the Wildflower! Festival audience that they want more ways to interact and find information, and this new app gives everybody a fun way to connect with the festival,” said Richardson Parks and Recreation Director Michael Massey. “We were able to leverage the City’s great relationship with UT Dallas to create the app, and we’re excited to see festival guests using it this weekend.”

The Charlie Daniels Band will headline at Wildflower! on Friday, May 17, with Gretchen Wilson opening. The award-winning, multi-day festival – featuring live music, arts and crafts, children’s activities, interactive exhibits, acrobats, and more – will be held at Galatyn Park Urban Center, 2351 Performance Dr., Richardson, Texas 75082. Hours are 6 p.m. – midnight Friday, 11 a.m. – midnight Saturday, and 12:30 – 8 p.m. Sunday. New this year is the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Movie Night on Saturday, May 18, at 9:15 p.m.

Tickets are on sale now at area Tom Thumb stores or through Wildflower!’s website: http://www.wildflowerfestival.com/tickets.html. A three-day pass is $30, single-day adult is $20 and kid’s pass (age 5-12) is $3. On Sunday, May 19, kids 12 and under get in free with a paid adult courtesy of Bank of America. Sunday is also half-price day for adults – tickets are only $10 courtesy of Cisco Systems. Check the website for the festival’s 15 for $15 group ticket promotion and for directions to the festival.

Other entertainment includes:

Friday – May 17, 2013

Cowboy Mouth – bits of gospel-punk with shards of Cowpunk
Gretchen Wilson – country music’s “Redneck Woman”
The Charlie Daniels Band – country and Southern rock music legend
Spin Doctors – ‘90s alternative rock band
Uncle Kracker - pop/country crossover hitmaker
Rocket Man – the Best of Elton John tribute show
Eliza Gilkyson – Austin Music Hall of Fame inductee
Le Freak – The Greatest Disco Band In The World

Wildflower! Richardson’s Arts & Music Festival began in 1993 as a small community event held in a local park in northeast Richardson, Texas, to celebrate the acres of wildflowers planted around the city. Twenty-one years later the festival has become the premier music event in the region with more than 1,200 volunteers and attendance surpassing 60,000 a year. The festival is produced by the City of Richardson annually the third weekend in May.